Another P-Day, another opportunity to speak with the outside world. So exciting!
Had a great week.My mission has been great so far, the only difficult part is being away from home, really. The MTC was very fun I enjoyed every day of it, even though everyone said that the field was going to be better, you start missing it when you leave. I´m not an awesome missionary just yet, first I have to master the language and that is going to take some time. Right now I kind of feel like a dope because I can say very little to our investigators while my companion Elder Carvalho does all the talking. I just smile, go over a few points that I'm good at explaining, then testify, pray. People still feel the Spirit but I can't wait until I'm fluent. It takes a lot of work, learning another language, but I'm trying my best, so it shouldn't be too long.
The scriptures have given me a huge comfort. Reading and studying them daily is awesome and I hope I can keep the habit up throughout my mission and after. Elder Carvalho has quite a story, I might tell more about him later in this installment. We definitely get along, he's a really cool guy and I can learn a lot from him.
You know, really Brasil is a first-world country and it has a lot of things that I am still taking for granted. I am sure many missionaries are not so lucky. Here, I have the internet, and we have paved roads and restaurants and so forth... Not that bad, you know?
Here in Juazeiro each missionary gets a little money for each month. Things are actually more expensive here, strangely, and when you account for food, bus rides, water, electricity, it really adds up.
Connor, sounds like you are having a great time in Porto Alegre. How hot is it there? Man, it's hot here... in the 90's every day, but I am getting used to constantly sweating. The Spirit, the power of the Holy Ghost, is the most important power in missionary work and if you feel someone is ready, they should be baptized. Always trust your mission president, they hold the keys, I think increased contacting and increased focus on fortifying members and investigators in gospel habits is something important. We've got to remember that.
Focusing on the Spirit and being obedient is a constant battle, but it is very important. I want so badly to be just a perfect missionary, a true disciple of Christ. I think I still need to build my confidence up but I feel I'm on my way.
I received the package, the whole thing a few days ago!!! So awesome! Everything worked out in the end. Thanks for all that great stuff, the candy, the reference book, the sewing kit, beef jerky, those awesome glow in the dark glasses (lol), it was a very fun day to open that. Awesome present. I got the Halloween pictures. Hah, those were so funny. Awesome. Dad with that wig on...
I've been thinking of sending my iPod home so that you guys could put a bunch of stuff on it for Christmas, if I send it in the next few weeks you could get it back to me by Christmas with lots of MoTab, some soundtracks and other songs I would like. I really don't need anything, and other than music I would just like some treats from home. Nothing very important, ya know?
Alright, did I say anything about the ants here? They are HUGE! Scary little things. I've seen them cutting out huge chunks of fallen leaves, big rubbery things, with these mandibles that could clip your toenails. They are the kind that carry leaves in those lines down into their gigantic anthills. Crazy little things.
Quite a contrast between inside and outside, here. People have nice computers, plasma screen TVs, iPods, cell phones, all very American, but houses and cars are extremely expensive here, so people have small, small houses, sometimes just one room, and very few people have cars. It's a weird contrast sometimes to enter a house surrounded by a bunch of scruffy half-naked guys, with chickens running everywhere, but inside people are watching X-Men on a big plasma screen TV or playing video games. Weird, huh?
Alright, so some fun stuff happened this week. First of all, Elder Carvalho and I and the two other Elders that live with us were invited to teach a short English lesson to all the classes in this private school near here. And they agreed we could teach a little bit of the Gospel. So we go in and climb all these stairs to these classrooms where a bunch of uniformed fourteen and fifteen year olds are sitting in desks and we speak to them in English, introduce ourselves, say simple sentences. I passed around my photo of all of you guys, my family, and used it to teach words like sister or mother. And then we launch into the First Lesson. We passed out pamphlets, we explained how the Church of Christ has prophets, apostles and the authority of God to baptize and teach the Gospel. Told them about Joseph Smith and the current prophets and apostles... It was awesome, though. It's not like we were aggressive, we just did what we would do while tracting: testify about the true restored Gospel of Jesus Christ. We taught four classes of different ages and the kids loved us so much. They wanted us to sign autographs and pose for pictures. The whole school was excited to have us there and it felt great.
Second thing before I run out of time: my first baptism this Saturday! Danilo was perfect, man, just super elect and such an awesome, sweet guy. He really felt the Spirit. I didn't even know I would do the baptizing until ten minutes before, so I jumped into the clothing and quickly memorized the words in Portuguese, and everything went great. We don't have a font here, just this big tub of water in the backyard. It felt very spiritual though, with everyone surrounding this tub of water, and it was done very well. Danilo was so excited and had this little smile on his face the whole time. It was very powerful for me as well. I was so happy! I can't wait to baptize someone again. I sent pictures of Danilo, he is twenty one, very quiet, but his testimony is growing very rapidly. I can't wait to see the Gospel bless his life.
I love all of you so much! Thank you for your prayers and your great examples!
Your friend, son, relative, brother,
Elder Brendon Carpenter
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